3 Bucks County Residents Plead Guilty To Roles In Capitol Riot

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Three Bucks County residents admitted Tuesday in federal court to charges that they participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to reports.

Dawn Bancroft, of Doylestown, Diana Santos-Smith, and Gary Edwards, of Churchville, pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for illegally demonstrating, picketing, or parading inside the Capitol, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Each could face up to six months in prison when they are sentenced, the report states.

Bancroft, who owned Cross Fit Sine-Pari in Plumstead Township, and Santos-Smith filmed a video of themselves as they were trying to exit the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

During the video, Bancroft admitted she broke into the Capitol and threatened violence against Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“We broke into the Capitol … We got inside. We did our part,” she said. “We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her.”

A federal judge questioned prosecutors Tuesday for allowing Bancroft to plead guilty to a low-level misdemeanor instead of seeking charges for threatening a member of Congress, the Inquirer reports.

Prosecutors said they did not pursue more serious charges because the video showed Bancroft was leaving the Capitol as she made the threat, the report states. Santos-Smith was pictured in the background of the video that prosecutors built their case on.

Bancroft sent that video to a friend, who submitted it to the FBI less than a week after the insurrection at the Capitol, the Inquirer reports.

The 59-year-old Doylestown woman said Tuesday that she was guilty and was ready to “take the consequences,” calling her threatening remarks a “stupid, juvenile comment,” the Inquirer reports.

Bancroft told the FBI in January that she entered the U.S. Capitol during the riot through a broken window and estimated she was inside the building for about 30 seconds, as previously reported.

Santos-Smith told the FBI the same day that she and Bancroft did not plan to enter the Capitol but followed a crowd inside after hearing people say “they’re letting us in.”

Edwards was arrested for participating in the Capitol riot after his wife posted on Facebook to defend his actions. The FBI received tips against Edwards in the form of screenshots of his wife’s posts, which said “my husband was there inside the Capitol Rotunda” and provided a brief rundown of what happened.

Fifty-five Pennsylvanians have been charged for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and 11 have pleaded guilty, as of Tuesday, the Inquirer reports.